Saturday, March 23, 2013

Light and Fluffy

Quite a few years ago, another writer asked me to read and comment on a story she'd written. I'd previously read many of her stories, so was a bit taken-aback to find her new story...fluffy. Don't mistake me. It was well written, amusing and interesting. But it wasn't exactly what I was expecting from her. And rather than keeping my mouth shut, I told her that. My comments hurt her feelings. For that I am and always have been sorry.

She pointed out she was going through some bad stuff in her life and just felt like writing something that made her happy. I agreed and life continued, but our relationship was never the same.

Now the shoe is on the other foot. Don't you hate when things come home to roost? I've spent a lot of months writing 'serious' stories. To what purpose? I'm not sure. But I do know I'm tired of it. And now I understand my friend perfectly. I want to write something absurd and silly. Something...light and fluffy.

I used to do that. Perhaps that's where I've gone wrong. It may be I need the relief of light and fluffy to counter the serious and complicated. After all, that's generally how most of us deal with life--with a delicately balanced bit of farce so we can face the dark.

In any case, I've decided it's like swimming. It's not whether it's shallow or deep. The important thing is to get wet. So, I'm off to see whether I'm even capable of writing the absurd. Perhaps I no longer have a comedic sense. Wouldn't that be the ultimate payback?

Comedic sense? Doesn't existence.I believe people who think they're rom-com writers and they're funny - they're not.Quirky and amusing is writing from life experience and the observations you view of the people around you. You know that. You do that. Forget the comedic sense bullshit. As for fluffy? Write what you want to write. No, the market may not appreciate it now but they didn't appreciate Jane Austen when she first started writing.

Don't be like everyone else. Write what you feel and where your heart is. As for fluffy? Only fluffy people write fluff. You're better than that.

Want to know more?

Anny Cook

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Anny Cook's Webpage

Reader, author, wife, parent and grandmother, Anny Cook fits it all in her busy life. Now officially retired, she started writing in 2005 when she found herself at loose ends after yet another move. To date she has twenty-three published titles ranging from a Quickie, Everything Lovers Can Know to a plus novel, Shadows on Stone. She has three series—Mystic Valley, Flowers of Camelot, and Tuatha Treasures.